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April 24, 2012
Dear Bonsall School Community,
As we get to the last couple months of this school year it becomes more important than ever to collaboratively join in solving problems that might prevent us from continuously improving Bonsall schools. We have so many things to be grateful for as a result of this collaboration. A perfect example is the home-to-school transportation issue; I previously wrote that the elimination of home-to-school transportation was narrowly avoided, but we were still around $80,000 in the red. No longer! The wise generosity of the Pala Band of Mission Indians has contributed $50,000 to support the bus from Pala to Sullivan Middle School, making it possible for the District to balance the non special education transportation budget by increasing the cost of other routes by only $.50 each way.
Another example of the great collaboration we need is that all Bonsall District employees have agreed to a possible 2.75% pay reduction if voters in the November election don’t approve the Governor’s tax initiative. This will reduce the school calendar by 5 days at the end of the 2012-2013 school year. Hopefully the initiative will pass and such reductions won’t be necessary, but we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario: more deep budget cuts. Retirements and some resignations have also reduced the burden of our structural deficit by absorbing positions and slightly raising class sizes. Through such collaboration and innovative spreading of the impact of reductions, Bonsall schools have again avoided the drastic cuts other school districts are experiencing. These strategies are gradually aligning our deficit reduction with the budget cuts and allowing Bonsall to maintain a positive fiscal rating from the San Diego County Office of Education.
Such collaboration allows us to celebrate great achievements like Bonsall West receiving the California Distinguished School Award! A culture of alignment, collaboration, accountability, and innovation and hard work by all, earned this success. It should also be noted that Bonsall Elementary missed the same award through a byzantine technicality that the California Department of Education admits to, but due to their own budget and staff cuts, can’t correct the problem.
Next week we begin the California Standards Test (CST) assessments, an important measurement by which the public evaluates the quality of Bonsall schools. Our students and staff have worked hard to prepare to show what they know and continue to pursue our vision/mission of providing “Academic Excellence and Support FOR (Focus On Results) All Students. I am confident that with the support of the Bonsall School Community, we will continue to be the best at getting better.
Sincerely yours,
Yours,
Justin Cunningham, Ed. D.